North Carolina Team Eliminates Eustis In Junior Regional Event

EUSTIS — Kernersville, N.C. defeated Eustis, 12-2, Thursday to knock the hosts out of the Junior League Southern Regional Tournament.

Although the score was lopsided, it was nothing like Eustis' 31-0 loss to Tampa Bay Thursday. It was a moral victory for Eustis' 13-year-olds.

The score was tied, 1-1, for three innings before North Carolina broke it open in the fifth with six runs.

Things looked good at the beginning. North Carolina pitcher Jeff Snow was wild, walking two batters in the first inning and three in the fourth. Bo Bowen sacrificed Sandip Patel from third base in the first inning to score the first Eustis run in the tournament.

If Snow had continued to be wild, North Carolina presumably didn't have anyone left to take his place after using four pitchers in two games Wednesday. Under Little League rules, a pitcher cannot pitch on consecutive days.

But Snow found his groove and only walked one batter the last three innings. He held Eustis hitless until pinch-hitter Mark Taylor singled to start the seventh inning. It was the only Eustis hit.

Eustis spoiled a no-hit bid by Tampa pitcher Jason Garcia Wednesday when Patel singled with two outs in the fifth inning of the five-inning game.

North Carolina didn't have much better luck at the plate. The team only mustered one hit off losing pitcher Patel in the first three innings. In the fourth it tried a new tactic.

With men on second and third, North Carolina Manager Glenn Swain had the next two batters bunt. Neither was thrown out, and both scored the runners.

Conditions were perfect for bunting because the grass was wet from afternoon showers. The ball didn't go anywhere. When the Eustis infielders got to the ball, they didn't have a play or rushed and threw to the wrong base. Of North Carolina's seven hits, three were from bunts. No one that bunted was thrown out.

The fourth inning seemed to take the heart out of Eustis. Patel struggled through that and the fifth inning, but came back to retire the last six batters in order.

Eustis did have some bright spots. Officially, they didn't commit an error after making seven against Tampa Bay, and in the seventh inning, third baseman Rocky Tomson dove on a hard hit grounder and made a strong throw to first to nail the runner.

Eustis was guaranteed a spot in the tournament because it hosted it. The other teams had to fight their way through district, state and sectional tournaments.

Eustis was clearly outmatched. ''I'm not going to do it this way again,'' Eustis Coach Keith Buse said. ''I'll take them to district and state, but I won't do this again.''

North Carolina will play the loser of late Thursday's Tampa Bay-Sinton, Texas game tonight at 7. The final is scheduled Saturday morning at 10 with another game at 1 p.m. if necessary.

District 14 lost to Bristol, Va., 4-3, in the finals of the Big League Southern Regional at the University of Central Florida Thursday to set up a final game at 8 a.m. today.

The loss came after District 14 was leading, 3-1, in the sixth inning. Bristol hit four consecutive singles off losing pitcher Mike Passilla and scored three runs. District 14 catcher Todd Maufroy of Mount Dora was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

The game is being played early today to give the winning team time to travel to the World Series in Fort Lauderdale, which begins Saturday. The game was delayed several hours Thursday because of rain.